A week away from the first official day of winter and just 10 days to Christmas – and roses in the gardens are still acting as if it’s springtime. So are several other plant varieties that should by now be settling in for a long winter’s nap… Joel S. Flagler, county department head for Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Bergen County, also adds that “hard-killing frosts were not widespread enough in our area,” allowing cool weather perennials to continue to flower… Are these plants essentially being tricked into flowering at the wrong time? Or do they know what they are doing?… “They will stop blooming,” says Bruce Crawford, Rutgers Gardens director, who also predicts a self-correction.